1021 Says "It's Our Health Care"

Reform based on "4 Principles" a goal for 2007

CR, RL

Our work is paying off! For a long time, SEIU members have been among the most vocal advocates for adequate, affordable, and accessible health care for everybody. It’s no surprise health care is the top priority in Sacramento — with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata, and Senator Sheila Kuehl all sponsoring significant health care reform proposals this year.

California’s health care crisis will not be solved by chance — it’s a matter of choice, and California is long overdue in recognizing and confronting the challenges of our broken health care system. Unless we weigh in for quality, affordable health care for all, protect our public hospitals and clinics, and set standards for good health insurance, we might not like what we get.

That’s why SEIU has partnered with progressive community groups and other labor unions for “It’s Our Health Care!” — a massive legislative campaign that will include lobby visits, online organizing, house parties, and coalition work. The campaign’s goal is to make sure we protect what’s good about the health care we get today while fixing what doesn’t work for tomorrow.

Taking it to the state

Health care reform topped the list at a series of legislative briefings held March 10 throughout the 1021 region. State legislators took a break from Sacramento to hear directly from SEIU 1021 members concerning our legislative priorities for the new year.

Legislators who attended the Oakland briefing  — State Senator Ellen Corbett (SD 10) and Assembly members Mark DeSaulnier (AD 11), Sandre Swanson (AD 16), and Loni Hancock (AD 14) — all said they joined SEIU in supporting a bill (Sen. Sheila Kuehl’s SB 840) that would institute a true single-payer health care system in California.

SEIU 1021 Vice President Christal B. Cox, an RN at Highland Hospital, made the case for reform by describing a nightmare world of health care where private hospitals collect the money and overcrowded public ER’s get stuck with the patients and the bills.

“Private hospitals keep sending people to the Highland ER for follow-up, but insurance often doesn’t cover those follow-up visits. But the private hospital that referred the patient sure got paid,” she told the legislators.